In this paper, two scholars and their guide reflect on their research journeys of working with the Adivasis communities in two different states for their M.Phil. dissertation. One scholar worked with Chenchu community, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in Telangana. This work centred around how health is contested between the Community, state and civil society organisations. The other scholar focused on the livelihood change over the last three decades, the current situation and the condition of food and nutritional security and change among Irula Adivasi community of Attappady, Kerala. Following this, this paper is centred around three objectives. The first objective discusses how the scholars chose a particular research topic and worked with a particular community. The Second objective discusses on how scholars navigated in the field between the state and community. The whole ‘permission’ process from the state and efforts taken to be part of the community is critically discussed. The third objective involves reflecting on the discussions between the scholars and guide in shaping the research. Through this paper, we call for academia to have a critical reflection on their whole process of working with the Adivasi communities. The paper has accordingly the following sections. The first section discusses the choice and motivations for choosing a research topic. The second section discusses the ‘the field’, the layered understanding of the field and how the different actors in the field shape the discourse, including the regulation of entry and exit to the Adivasi communities depending on the ‘social power’ exercised. The third section focuses on the contestations and negotiations, and interpretations experienced by the scholars and supervisors in the research process. The fourth section highlights the lessons learnt and suggestions for researching with Adivasi communities, particularly from ethical concerns of pure anthropological research and social work research.
